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v. t. e. Alpha decay or α-decay is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle (helium nucleus) and thereby transforms or "decays" into a different atomic nucleus, with a mass number that is reduced by four and an atomic number that is reduced by two. An alpha particle is identical to the nucleus of a helium ...
Nuclear physics. Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is considered radioactive. Three of the most common types of decay are alpha, beta, and gamma ...
Heavy nuclides are susceptible to α decay, and these nuclear reactions have the generic form, A Z X → A-4 Z-2 X′ + 4 2 He. As in β decay, the decay product X′ has greater binding energy and it is closer to the middle of the valley of stability. The α particle carries away two neutrons and two protons, leaving a lighter nuclide. Since ...
v. t. e. In nuclear science a decay chain refers to the predictable series of radioactive disintegrations undergone by the nuclei of certain unstable chemical elements. Radioactive isotopes do not usually decay directly to stable isotopes, but rather into another radioisotope. The isotope produced by this radioactive emission then decays into ...
Considering all decay modes, various models indicate a shift of the center of the island (i.e., the longest-living nuclide) from 298 Fl to a lower atomic number, and competition between alpha decay and spontaneous fission in these nuclides; [83] these include 100-year half-lives for 291 Cn and 293 Cn, [55] [78] a 1000-year half-life for 296 Cn ...
Induced radioactivity. Induced radioactivity, also called artificial radioactivity or man-made radioactivity, is the process of using radiation to make a previously stable material radioactive. [1] The husband-and-wife team of Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie discovered induced radioactivity in 1934, and they shared the 1935 ...
There are 39 known isotopes of radon (86 Rn), from 193 Rn to 231 Rn; all are radioactive.The most stable isotope is 222 Rn with a half-life of 3.823 days, which decays into 218 Po ...
Alpha particle. Alpha particles, also called alpha rays or alpha radiation, consist of two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle identical to a helium-4 nucleus. [5] They are generally produced in the process of alpha decay but may also be produced in other ways. Alpha particles are named after the first letter in the Greek ...